Panorama II / S Bit-rate: 12 vs 15 / 18 / 21Mbps Day'n Night test

niko

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Due to some Panorama II buyers "requests"-suggested ( I was one of them who was asking for ) to rise a bit-rate, developer released 3 additional firmwares with options of higher bit-rate: 15, 18, 21Mbps ( variable ).

For over 2 weeks ( total approx 40h work ) I was testing side by side new high bit-rate firmwares to see how much they can improve a video quality.

15 / 18 / 21Mbps Bit-rate FW Download for Panorama II / S

Below is my extensive side by side test and conclusions.

- higher bit-rate option: 12, 15, 18, 21Mbps
- more natural colours
- removed blue "haze" background at daytime ( tree / sky )
- Brightness "ON-delay" / WDR tune-up for 15, 18 mbps bit-rate*.
* with 15mbps bit-rate brightness stayed ON for about 30sec when I drove into the multistor car-park
* with 18mbps bit-rate brightness stayed ON for about 10sec when I drove into the multistor car-park
* with 21mbps bit-rate brightness adjusted to darker value instantly after I drove into the multistor car-park

* regarding brightness "ON-delay" / WDR tune-up please watch my video comparisons and screenshots.

Video data comparisons for day and night videos. Bit-rate is variable.

Day Bit-rate.jpg

Night Bit-rate.jpg



Side by side tests. ( YouTube videos )

DAY





NIGHT





Side by side Day screen-shots comparison

Day-1.jpg


Day-2.jpg


Same ( above ) screen-shots bigger size

12vs15-1.jpg


12vs18-1.jpg


12vs21-1.jpg


12vs15-2.jpg


12vs18-2.jpg



12vs21-2.jpg


My conclusions:

Is it worth upgrading to higher bit-rate ?
- Yes, but in my opinion not over 15Mbps.

To see a difference in video quality you need to have a high quality monitor / display and use original / raw video files, NOT YouTube compressed.

I do have 24" quite good specs AOC 1080p PC monitor, but I was able to see only about 5-10% improvements on that monitor, mainly for day time videos. Also I tested on 42" 1080p LED TV and there I was able to see maybe another extra 5% improvements changes. Later I tested on 50" Plasma LCD and I was able to see maybe another 5% extra improvements. So, it total improvements between 12 vs 15Mbps are about 15 ( maybe 20% ) ?
Those differences I was able to see mainly for day-time videos, night time noise was also reduced slightly but not that marginal to see big difference, hence I did not do any night side by side screen-shots.

NB! Those % figures ( above ) are just from what I was able to see with my eyes. I did not had any special professional measuring tools or software / players, so it is my average conclusions what my eyes saw.

For real comparison test ( not youtube compressed) I am adding original RAW videos ( not youtube compressed ).
You may download raw original video files: DAY and NIGHT

18 and 21mbps bit-rate looked to me same as 15Mbps. At this stage I don't see any reason to use higher than 15Mbps bit-rate.

I think for better affect of higher bit-rate on video quality improvement, need to sharpen a video, then I guess 15Mbps and even 18Mbps bit-rate will show much more improvement result.
Developer working on a new firmware. Hope it will be out soon.
 
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18 Mbps transmission rate very good. Downloaded and installed, I'll do the test.
 
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I also think the 18Mbps is very good. That's what I'm going to install. Thanks for posting @niko
 
Apart from the bigger file size what are the down side of using the higher bit rate firmwares?
Does the camera run hotter?
 
Apart from the bigger file size what are the down side of using the higher bit rate firmwares?
Does the camera run hotter?
Panorama product has very low heat than other product. Even use high bitrate, it has no heat. I tested. About memory concerned, it is upto people's taste.
 
Apart from the bigger file size what are the down side of using the higher bit rate firmwares?
Does the camera run hotter?

Every memory card had a limited number of write cycles. The higher the bit-rate, - the bigger size of each video file, - the quicker memory card fills up and starts new cycle.
 
Panorama product has very low heat than other product. Even use high bitrate, it has no heat. I tested. About memory concerned, it is upto people's taste.

You are right that the Panorama camera puts out low heat.
My ITB-100HD memory card would get crazy warm while the Panorama would be on the cooler side of things
I'll have it connected to permanent power tomorrow so will see how it goes, then I'll play around with the bit rate and see how it goes from there
 
You are right that the Panorama camera puts out low heat.
My ITB-100HD memory card would get crazy warm while the Panorama would be on the cooler side of things
I'll have it connected to permanent power tomorrow so will see how it goes, then I'll play around with the bit rate and see how it goes from there


Some technical SPECS about Panorama II "heat" and other built- and performance related things.
 
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Hi Niko! Thank you for your work! Noticed one feature almost all firmware (now I have is 1.12.03 15 Mbps bit-rate). Everywhere I notice that the outlines of the trees are blue against the sky. May prompt developers to pay attention to it?
 
Hi Niko! Thank you for your work! Noticed one feature almost all firmware (now I have is 1.12.03 15 Mbps bit-rate). Everywhere I notice that the outlines of the trees are blue against the sky. May prompt developers to pay attention to it?

You are welcome.
So, you have now v1.12.03 15mbps firmware from this thread and still have blue outline over trees, is it correct?
 
Yes! Аnd did not notice the removal blue "haze" in the background during the daytime (tree / sky). I downloaded the firmware from your links.
 
Yes! Аnd did not notice the removal blue "haze" in the background during the daytime (tree / sky). I downloaded the firmware from your links.

Strange. I spent a lot of time comparing them ( see my photos / videos ), blue haze is removed in mine.
Can you share raw / original files.
 
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Strange. I spent a lot of time comparing them ( see my photos / videos ), blue haze is removed in mine.
Can you share raw / original files.
Niko looked original files?
 
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Yadisk first video had very little blue haze around trees, almost like on my videos. Second video where car was stopped, there was much more haze, it's true. Probably too much sky was overbalancing AWB ? ( don't know ). What happens if you start from stand still ( like in your second video ) and then start driving, - does blue haze will be less or same as when car is stand still?
 
Thanks Niko for your comprehensive report. I now realize the only way I can tell a difference between 15M and 21M is on the Apple MBP Retina display viewing the raw file. On my non-retina display or viewing in Youtube I can't see much difference. Now I must weigh up absolute clarity versus file size. Maybe I'll opt for 18M which is a compromise.
 
was the unit ran hotter in 21 mbits? than 15 mbits.
 
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